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BAGHDAD--A leading Iraqi anti-government activist was killed early Sunday, security sources and activists said, sending supporters of a protest movement onto the streets to demand an end to bloodshed. Some of his fellow activists blamed pro-Iran militias for the murder, in social media posts.

Ihab al-Wazni, a coordinator of protests in the Shia shrine city of Karbala, was a vocal opponent of corruption, the stranglehold of Tehran-linked armed groups and Irans influence in Iraq.

He was shot overnight outside his home by men on motorbikes, in an ambush caught on surveillance cameras. His death was confirmed by security forces and activists.

Wazni narrowly escaped death in December 2019, when men on motorbikes used silenced weapons to kill fellow activist Fahem al-Tai as he was dropping him home in Karbala, where pro-Tehran armed groups are legion.

Both were key figures in a national protest movement that erupted against government corruption and incompetence in Iraq in October 2019.

Around 600 people were killed as a result of their association with that movement many on the streets during rallies, others targeted on their doorsteps away from the rallies.

Protests broke out in Karbala, Nassiriya and Diwaniya in southern Iraq in reaction to Waznis killing, as people called for an end to the bloodshed and to rampant corruption.

In a video recording in the morgue where his body was initially held, a fellow activist made it clear who he and colleagues blamed for the killing.

It is the Iranian militias who killed Ihab, said the unnamed activist. They are going to kill all of us! They threaten us and the government remains silent.

Police in Karbala said they will spare no effort to find the terrorists behind Waznis killing.

Politicians, including Shia leader Ammar al-Haki, deplored the killing and called for justice.

Around 30 activists have died in targeted killings and dozens of others abducted, some detained briefly, since October 2019.

Such targeted killings are normally carried out in the dead of night by men on motorbikes, and nobody claims responsibility.

Activists and the UN repeatedly blame militias.

Authorities have consistently failed to identify the perpetrators of these political killings.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office a year ago, vowing to rein in rogue factions, fight corruption and roll out long-awaited reforms after years of war and insurgency.

Pro-Iran groups view the premier as being too close to Washington and protesters believe he has failed to deliver on his promises.

Such crimes against activists in Iraq raise again the question about the real steps of the government regarding accountability for (those) responsible for crimes targeting protesters, Ali Bayati, a member of Iraqs Human Rights Commission, tweeted Sunday.

Wazni had himself challenged Kadhimi in a Facebook post in February, asking rhetorically: Do you know what is going on? You know that they kidnap and kill or you live in another country?

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Pro-Iran militias blamed as Iraqi anti-corruption activist killed | | AW - The Arab Weekly

Much has been written in recent years on the boldness of Western intelligence bodies in Iran, among them the Israeli Mossad. More specifically, the current head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, has said in front of the cameras in the past that the Mossad has "ears and more than that" in Iran. The Israeli Mossad is even responsible for stealing the nuclear archive from Iran. However, it raises the question of why the Mossad and other intelligence agencies in the West are unable to neutralize Iran's advantage over the IAEAby stealing the recordings of the nuclear facilities.

Around February of this year, Iran decided, in a step taken against the U.S. and Europe, that it will prevent U.N. inspectors from accessing the nuclear sites being supervised under the 2015 nuclear accords. Iran told the U.N. that the recordings from the cameras in those facilities will continue to be made for three months (until May of this year), but the inspectors will not have access to them until there are accords that remove the U.S. sanctions.

In the meantime, negotiations started with the U.S. and Europe on the return to the 2015 nuclear accords, but the talks take time. Why does it matter? Because the agreement between the IAEA and Iran will expire towards the end of this month, and Iran is threatening to erase the recordings that it has. "Let's hope it hasn't happened," the director-general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, was quoted as saying by the france24 website.

In other words, Iran is using the recordings and the granting of access to the U.N. inspectors as leverage in the negotiations with the U.S. and Europe. If a Western intelligence service (maybe the Mossad?) succeeds in secretly obtaining those recordings, the Iranian threat would lose its credibility. Even if Iran followed through on its threat, and the recordings were erased, the materials would still be available to the U.N.

Is Biden expected to oppose such an intelligence operation? I wrote a number of times in the past that Biden does not look kindly upon Israeli sabotage or assassinations in Iran that could thwart the negotiations. However, in this case, it is an operation whose objective is only to collect intelligence (obtain the recordings), and one that could give the U.S. an advantage in negotiations. Therefore, Biden is not expected to oppose such an operation.

The rest is here:
Commentary: Iran threatens to prevent UN inspectors from accessing recordings. Why doesn't the Mossad steal them? - IsraelDefense

(REUTERS) - Iran was given a four-year ban by the International Judo Federation (IJF) for "repeated and very severe breaches" of the organisation's statutes after it pressured one of its fighters not to face an Israeli athlete.

Judo's world governing body imposed the ban on April 29 after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month lifted a previous indefinite suspension and ordered a disciplinary review.

The IJF had previously sanctioned Iran in October for putting pressure on fighter Saeid Mollaei to withdraw from the World Championships to avoid a potential final round against Israeli contender Sagi Muki.

Mollaei, a 2018 judo world champion, subsequently fled Iran - which does not recognise Israel's existence - for Germany, where he was granted refugee status, and later became a citizen of Mongolia.

Iran appealed the decision to CAS, which ruled that although Iran committed "severe violations", the unlimited suspension imposed on the country had no legal basis and referred back to the IJF's disciplinary commission for further decisions.

"The Disciplinary Commission considers that the status of IJF member of IRIJF should be provisionally withdrawn for a period of four years, i.e. a full Olympiad," the IJF said in a statement.

The ban is backdated to start in 2019 and will run until 2023.

The IJF also said it "continues to defend fundamental human values and rights of all its members, with a special emphasis on the rights of athletes and reiterates its commitment to fight against any form of discrimination in the sport of Judo".

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Judo: Iran handed four-year ban by international federation - The Straits Times

Muscat: Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran accredited to the Sultanate, Ali Najafi Khoshroudi reaffirmed that the relations between the Sultanate and Iran were deep-rooted and characterised with good neighbourhood and strong ties, thanks to the will of the leaders of both the countries and their efforts for enhancement of cooperation in the various spheres.

In a statement to Oman News Agency, he said that "We always welcome and value the role the Sultanate plays in settlement of disputes and differences in the region."

He also appreciated the role, the Sultanate played in reaching the nuclear deal between Iran and P5 + 1. "Iran is committed with this nuclear deal and ready for dialogue in this framework," he said.

He said that the volume of exchange of trade between the Sultanate and Iran stood at OMR1 billion approximately.

We, through the joint efforts, would seek to further enhance the trade relations and upgrade the level of exchange of trade between the two countries, he added.Regarding Omani Vision 2040, he said that it was a significant long term vision aimed at the prosperity of the Sultanate in the various spheres through diversification of sources of income and economic activities.

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Ambassador of Iran hails strong ties with Oman - Times of Oman

Bahareh and Emad Shargi in California in June 2017. Bahareh Shargi hide caption

Bahareh and Emad Shargi in California in June 2017.

Later this month, Bahareh Shargi will mark an anniversary: It will be three years that her husband has been stuck in Iran.

Iranian authorities first imprisoned Emad Shargi, a U.S. citizen, on April 23, 2018. Though they eventually released him on bail, they did not allow him to leave the country and later returned him to Tehran's Evin prison. Now his family hopes that speaking out may help him.

His wife discussed his case at the Washington, D.C., home where they raised two daughters. She sat on their concrete back porch, which overlooks a playground set from the days when their children were little. "I'm so proud to have spent the last 32 years with him," she said. She calls these last three years spent apart "this ordeal."

Emad, Shargi, 56, is one of numerous U.S. citizens who have been arrested in Iran over the years on opaque charges of espionage. He said he was innocent, and Iran made no evidence public.

Iranian diplomats have frequently spoken of exchanging such prisoners for Iranians in U.S. prisons. While the United States formally rejects any such exchanges, some U.S. and Iranian prisoners were released during the Trump administration. But not Emad Shargi.

Bahareh Shargi, 53, said she and her husband were born in Iran, and both moved to the United States when they were young and became citizens. But they maintained family ties to their native country, and when their children went to college a few years ago, they chose to take an opportunity to live in Tehran.

Emad Shargi in 2015 Bahareh Shargi hide caption

Emad Shargi in 2015

"We had this window of time where we thought, 'We can travel,' " she said.

They occupied a house in Tehran belonging to Bahareh Shargi's family. Emad Shargi, a businessman, had previously worked in the Persian Gulf region and briefly worked for the Dutch arm of an Iranian venture capital firm.

His wife insists that they had no hint of trouble with Iranian authorities until after midnight on April 23, 2018, when she woke to find "15, 16, 17 men and a woman, strangers in our home." They took the couple's passports and many other documents, and left with Emad.

She followed him to Evin prison, an imposing mountainside structure in north Tehran. It occupies an outsized place in the Iranian psyche as the destination for many who fall out of favor with Iran's security services. She passed through its gates daily, seeking to meet a senior official, but only reached a secretary who told her to go home. She recounts being told, "We will call you. Your husband will be here for a long, long time."

Emad Shargi was released from prison in December 2018, but his passport was not returned, making it impossible for him to travel. His wife reluctantly returned to the U.S., hoping he could follow. But after nearly two years of waiting, he was rearrested in November 2020.

Bahareh Shargi grew concerned that month when she could not reach him by video conference as she usually did. Finally she learned he was back in prison from the BBC Persian news service. "I opened my phone," she said, and saw "three pictures of a man that looked like Emad, but had aged, I would say, 20, 30 years since the last time I had seen him on FaceTime."

The Shargi family in 2015. Bahareh Shargi hide caption

The Shargi family in 2015.

In February Emad was allowed to begin calling from Evin. He said he had been convicted in a trial he did not attend, and issued a 10-year sentence.

Bahareh Shargi and their daughters, Hannah, 22, and Ariana, 24, gather around the phone when he calls.

"What I've been trying to do lately is let him know we are doing other things and higher up people are doing other things, and 'You are not forgotten,' " Bahareh Shargi said.

On a recent call, she informed her husband that U.S. and Iranian diplomats would be in Vienna this week, passing messages back and forth. It's an effort to find a way for the U.S. to rejoin a nuclear agreement with Iran and other world powers.

When U.S. diplomats last negotiated over Iran's nuclear program during the Obama administration, they worked to keep the talks separate from the discussions of imprisoned Americans. They wanted to avoid being asked to pay a kind of nuclear ransom for prisoners. These most recent nuclear talks are tentative U.S. and Iranian officials are not even in the same room but Rob Malley, the U.S. envoy to Iran, said President Biden "cares deeply" about getting "the American citizens released as soon as possible, reunited with their loved ones."

"They're not part of this negotiation, but they're part, in fact, of our thinking," Malley told NPR in an interview Monday. "And we're determined to see them released regardless of what happens on the nuclear track."

The families of Americans being held in Iran have urged the Biden administration to make their release a priority.

"Looking back," said Bahareh Shargi, "it was one big mistake of going there."

She gestured out into the backyard of their Washington home. "His best times were under this cherry blossom tree, which, if you come back in 20 days, is in full bloom [and] pink." She has no way to know when her husband might return to see their backyard cherry trees.

She remembered when their daughters were small, and "showered themselves with cherry blossoms" as the petals fell. "And the reason I say that is that I want to tell these people [that] you have the wrong person. Why do you have Emad?"

Lisa Weiner and Denise Couture produced and edited the audio story.

The rest is here:
3 Years Later, A Prisoner's Family Still Awaits His Return From Iran - NPR